I would like to apologise for not updating this piece sooner. I have been working on numerous other projects and haven’t had time to look into this. However, in the meantime I have been inundated with messages about this case and the individuals involved and it is all rather interesting. I am working through them and will provide an update as soon as I can. It appears this story is of some interest so thank you for taking the time to leave comments and to email me with what you know.

I’m still awaiting information from some of the other shopping centres and the ex-director. I have emailed him and the current director Nicola Cordle with a series of questions so I can ascertain how much of an involvement Daniel Cresswell still has. I have received confirmation from Leeds Crown Court that to date there has been no appeal by Daniel Cresswell against his conviction. He will most likely serve three-and-a-half years of his seven-year sentence. Whilst appeals usually have to be submitted within a 28-day period, occasionally a judge will allow more time if there are extenuating circumstances. However, the lady I spoke to at Leeds Crown Court thinks it is unlikely that an appeal will take place as Daniel Cresswell hasn’t submitted paperwork to ask for this extra time.

My cousin who is an advocate of women’s rights and who has volunteered for rape charities has set up a Facebook group which she says seeks to “highlight this man’s crime so that he cannot continue to profit whilst in jail from customers who will have no idea what a heinous crime he has committed. It is shocking to me that there are shopping centres who continue to associate themselves with this man”.

It is indeed true, that this isn’t a simple case of a business owner, who upon being imprisoned, disassociates himself from his company but rather one that seeks to exploit what is in the public realm to cover up what the truth actually is. I have received confirmation that the current director Nicola Cordle of Certo Enterprises is actually Daniel Cresswell’s wife. I have learnt that she continues to defend her husband and maintains his innocence, which makes it all the more surprising that there is not an appeal in progress. A current employee of Certo Enterprises has kindly provided this information but wishes to remain anonymous.

The cover-up of this then relates to Nicola Cordle attempting to disassociate her husband from Certo Enterprises whilst in reality it appears that he is very much involved. A whistle-blower has come forward and emailed me a letter from their solicitors which seems to be directed at the shopping centres and maintains that Daniel Cresswell will fully disassociate himself from the company by disposing of his directorship and shareholding. However, it is the accompanying email from the solicitor which was sent to an email address named as Nicola Cresswell that is the most revealing. The contents read:

Further to our telephone conversations, please find attached our proposed open letter/statement. I hope that it serves your purpose.

I strongly recommend you restrict the circulation of this letter. The last thing we want is for it to fall into Patrick Willis’ hands and for him to use it in support of an argument that Dan has prejudiced his shareholding.

I did not fully understand the last paragraph so had to forward this to a friend who works as a solicitor. She said she would have to take a look at any shareholders’ agreement to give a definitive answer to see if there has been any breach, but she says that the likelihood is that there has been, going by the email above. Alas, I don’t have access to the Certo Enterprises Shareholders’ Agreement! I have emailed both Nicola Cordle and Patrick Willis to get an answer on this.

I hope to have a more detailed update next time, with replies from all the parties concerned.

So, just a brief update. I have contacted the shopping centres mentioned in my previous post. Also, there has been a change of directorship of Certo Enterprises. From Companies House, it appears that Daniel Cresswell has now resigned on the 28th October 2014 and has now been replaced by a Nicola Cordle. We’ve also obtained some interesting correspondence which links these two individuals but I am waiting for some clarification on this.

Firstly, the shopping centres:

The Ashley Shopping Centre, Epsom – I have messaged them on their query section on their website but to date I have not received a response. Therefore, i was forced to dig a bit deeper and discovered that the Centre is actually owned by two investment companies; The Carlyle Group and Bride Hall. I contacted the directors of this company and asked whether they were aware that a convicted rapist owned a company in their centre, I received a comment from Richard Gorham:

“When this matter came to light, the Centre Management team raised it as a concern with Certo Enterprises. They received legal correspondence, from Certo Enterprises’ solicitors, confirming that Mr Cresswell has completely disassociated himself from the company.

As such, the Centre Management team are prepared to continue to work with Certo Enterprises, and allow them to remain in The Ashley Centre”.

It seemed that Daniel Cresswell had realised that people were not prepared to tolerate a convicted rapist operating a company from their shopping centre and done the right thing. However, then I did a bit of research online and saw that the Director appointed, Nicola Cordle, was registered at the same address as this individual. In addition, it appeared that Daniel Cresswell still held a 50% shareholding of the company alongside an ex-director called Patrick Willis. Therefore, essentially he was still profiting from the company and was still associated with the company. I have contacted a few more people in order to get more information, including the ex-director Patrick Willis.

The Ched Evans story shows no sign of going away. In recent weeks there have been many articles and debates about about a convicted rapist returning to his old football club. Some argue that having served his time, he should be allowed to get on with his life. Others say that footballers are seen as heroes and Ched Evans certainly is not one.

This story is on a national level but what of those that are on a local level but still ignite debate and anger. Rape is an emotive topic and over the years the justice system has been criticised for not being harsh enough. So, then it was surprising to hear the following; a story I heard from a friend who lives in Surrey. Her local shopping centre, The Belfry, allows a company to trade in its centre, where the owner is in jail for rape. She tells me that after hearing about this she contacted The Belfry, but the management were not keen to do anything about it. I was surprised at their reaction, surely no shopping centre would want that kind of person associated with their centre? I decided to look into the claims to see if they were true and what transpires is an interesting series of events.

The convicted Rapist: Daniel Cresswell

Daniel Cresswell was sentenced on the 27th June 2014 at Leeds Crown Court to 7 years of imprisonment for the rape of a female aged 16 or over. That is all the information I was able to obtain from the court but they have directed me to a company who can provide the transcripts. I have contacted them and will await their response.

Certo Enterprises has been trading since January 2012. From their website, they sell electronic cigarettes and accessories. They also have retail units in shopping centres across the UK. From Companies House, it seems Certo Enterprises was set up with 2 directors: Patrick John Willis and Daniel Anthony Cresswell (convicted rapist). It seems that Patrick John Willis has resigned from the company on the 10th October 2014.

The company trades at; http://www.certoent.com and from the following shopping centres: (This is just a some of the shopping centres from where Certo Enterprises operates – I will update more soon)

1) The Ashley Centre – Epsom

Ashley House Annexe, Ashley Road, Epsom, Surrey,KT18 5AB

tel: 01372742548

email: info@theashleycentre.co.uk – Centre Manager is called David Beddows.

The Ashley Centre is owned by Bride Hall and the Carlyle Group.

2) Saint Nicholas Centre – Sutton

St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey, SM1 1AY

Tel: 02087701777

The Saint Nicholas Centre is managed by Shoppertainment management. Reach them at: info@shoppertainmentmanagement.co.uk

3) Marlands Shopping Centre – Southampton

Civic centre Road, Southampton, SO14 7SJ

Tel: 02380339104

The Centre Managers name is Tim Keeping. Contact him at: tim@intomarlands.co.uk

I have contacted the shopping centre managers and owners to get a comment on whether they are aware of Daniel Cresswell’s rape conviction. I will report back with their responses.